Avira's Antivirus Pro didn't do a very good job during our testing rounds. We first infected our testing PCs with a host of malware (viruses, spyware, trojans, rogueware, etc), then ran a full scan with Avira Antivirus to see how well it would identify and remove the threats.

Granted, this is a difficult test because of the sheer number of threats we pile on at once, but that's the idea: we want to really test the software.

About 70% of the malware was detected and removed by Avira, but that still leaves about 30% that got through, mostly in the form of foreign adware. There were a couple programs that ran on boot up, but nothing was seen running in the background.

Avira's realtime protection fared a little better, but only a little. We updated a fresh copy of Avira on each of our testing PCs then downloaded and install our malware samples to see what would happen.

Avira Antivirus Pro blocked nearly 80% of the threats we threw at it, but about 20% were missed.

One annoying aspect of Avira's protection is that it constantly puts up warnings and other little windows prompting you to click them to take whatever action is necessary at the moment.

That's all fine, but it'd be both less annoying and more efficient if Avira would present one final notification at the end of a scan (as most competitors do) instead one after every. single. threat.

Overall, a disappointing performance for Avira Antivirus, especially compared to its results from last year.

Resource Usage: 91%

On the positive side, Avira had very low resource usage. During our testing, Avira only used about 4% of our testing PCs' total resources. We were able to surf the web with multiple browsers and multiple tabs and download large files with no interference.

Boot-up time was quite slow, however, but only by a few more seconds than the competition.

User Interface: 69%

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Avira's user interface is our least favorites of the year. Among other things, the text is smaller than it needs to be, making it very hard to read.

Unfortunately, too many designers think using tiny text is cool. We'll grant that it might be cool, but it also means that usability suffers.

Sections deeper within are cramped and rely on small checkboxes or table structures. Some sections are unclear on what action is to be taken, leaving us with little confidence that you've made the best choices for maximum protection.

On top of all that, it's more or less the same user interface design Avira has used for a few years now. It's time for an update.

Technical Support: 67%

In some ways, Avira's technical support options are better than most competitors. The real down side is that getting person-to-person support is more difficult than it should be.

The biggest issue is that to even see the phone number—or the method to email them—you first have to enter the email address on file with Avira.

It's because of shenanigans like this that their support score drops despite the fact that the support staff itself provided good, prompt service each time we tested them.

In the way of other positive things, there's a searchable knowledgebase along with very good how-to videos.

Lastly, perhaps most importantly, tech support is free. (It's based out of Germany and Romania.)

If your PC is infected with a virus, Avira will even help you get rid of it for free. More manufacturers should use this model.